Piyush Goyal to head finmin till Arun Jaitley is back

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal “temporary” charge of finance and corporate affairs ministries.

Mr Arun Jaitley is currently undergoing medical treatment in the United States. Mr Goyal will remain in charge of the finance ministry till Mr Jaitley is able to resume work. Mr Jaitley has been designated as a minister without portfolio.

Mr Goyal will now present the interim budget next week, which is expected to announce measures to deal with the farm stress. He will retain his present ministries of railways and coal. This is the second time when Mr Goyal has been given the interim charge of the finance ministry in the Modi government.

“The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, hereby directed that during the period of indisposition of Arun Jaitely, the portfolios of minister of finance and minister of corporate affairs held by him, be temporarily assigned to Piyush Goyal, in addition to his existing portfolios,” said an official statement.

Mr Jaitley had on May 14, 2018, undergone a kidney transplant surgery and was out of the finance ministry for nearly 100-days. During this period, railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal was given the additional charge of the finance ministry.

Mr Jaitley was this month named the publicity head of his party BJP’s election team. A Rajya Sabha MP since 2000, Mr Jaitley was re-elected to the Upper House from Uttar Pradesh in March this year. He is also the leader of the House.